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NBA’s GM survey showers love on LeBron, Heat

Each of the past 11 years, NBA.com has conducted a GM survey, asking those in the know for their answers to a long list of league-related questions. This season, there are 57 such questions. Rather than force you to surf through all of it, here are the categories most applicable to the Heat, which recognizing that GMs are instructed not to vote for their own teams or players:

— NBA champion: Twenty-one of the other 29 GMs picked the Heat. Seven picked the Lakers.

— East champion: Every GM picked the Heat. Boston got a vote but, based on the percentage count, that one came from Miami.

— Top small forward: James beat out Durant, 22-8. James also received five votes as the top power forward. Positionless!

— Best defensive player: Dwight Howard was first with 18 votes, while James received five.

— Best head coach: Gregg Popovich dominated with 24 votes, but Erik Spoelstra was one of only four coaches to get a vote. He also got a vote for Best Defensive Schemes, though Tom Thibodeau (21 votes) was the easy winner there.

— Most likely to become a coach: Shane Battier was a close second to Chauncey Billups, with Derek Fisher third. Apparently, none of the voters asked Battier, who has said he’s not all that interested in coaching. Battier also finished second in the Makes Most of Limited Ability category, which isn’t all that much of a compliment.

— Best home court advantage: Oklahoma City was the easy victor (21 votes), but Miami actually got three. I guess they were judging it from the second quarter forward.

— Most athletic: An easy win for James (62.1 percent). He got a similar percentage in the Most Dangerous Player in the Open Floor category and the Best Finisher category.

— Best pure shooter: An easy win for Ray Allen (56.7 percent), with Durant a distant second. Allen also won the Best Moving Without the Ball category.

— For all that James won, one vote stood out. He got one for “which player would you want taking the shot with the game on the line?” Durant and Bryant dominated that category, combining for 26 of the 30 votes. But the fact that James got any votes was a step. Wonder who gave it to him? Danny Ainge, perhaps?

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